Road to Home
by CrazyLikeArt
Summary: Leaving your birthplace is easy when nothing ties you to it. Finding a new place you can call your own is infinitely harder. AU, twisted timeline.
1. Prologue

**AN**- Understand I can't answer anonymous review. This story will be updated when I fell like doing it, no sooner.

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**PROLOGUE**

It was a cold, dark night with not even the moonlight to lighten it, covered as it was by heavy clouds that obscured the sky and its stars. The forest was mostly silent. All the nocturnal animals seemed to have decided to remain in their dens, leaving only the sound of the rain to disrupt the otherwise absolute silence.

The ground had already been transformed in a single vast knee-deep mud puddle, while aloft the trees were using their leaves to bravely and vainly try to block the falling water, only to then let it drip from their bark.

Up there, a lone figure jumped expertly through the wet foliage, unfazed by the slippery surface offered by the tree branches. It was hard to say whose silhouette it was. They appeared to be short, the same height of a young teenager, but it looked larger than that.

Suddenly the figure landed on the ground and stopped panting slightly, the sound of that was mechanic, almost asthmatic, as if the air was being filtered by something. They took off a huge scroll that they were carrying on their back laying it on the ground. There was no mistaking the form of a young teen, now.

The roar of a thunder was followed closely by a flash of lightning came from the sky, which illuminated for a second the rebreather that covered the lower half of their face as well as the metallic object tied around the figure's forehead. A hitai-ate, the symbol that identified all and every ninja.

The pause didn't last long, as soon as the ninja caught their breath, the scroll was lifted on the figure's back and they resumed their run under the crying night sky.

The ninja's mother's always said that the rain was the reflection of a suffering soul's pain. And then she used to murmur to herself that this country had plenty of them, so much that it was named after all those shed tears.

Amegakure no sato, the Village Hidden in Rain.

Fitting for a place that, after being the battlefield for the last secret ninja war, had been plagued by civil war for years, just for now being ruled by a bloodthirsty dictator whose only policy consisted in systematically killing any opposition without mercy.

Not that other Kage didn't do that as well, some with even more force; from what the fleeing teen had heard the mizukage had gone as far as to even start a new academy program that provided for the students to kill each other in order to graduate.

Officially the aim of the project was to assure that the new genin were ready for the battlefield, but even a retard could see that the mizukage was crippling his own ninja forces to avoid an eventual coupe d'état. See what nominating a paranoid idiot did to your country, not that any of the elder who elected him were alive from what the rumours said.

But that man… that _bastard _… that _**monster**_ … had absolutely no humanity in him. Using force to rule a country was one thing, and in a sickly twisted way that modus operandi in the end even did some good to the Hidden Rain. But what he had done as a _man_ didn't have a plausible explanation if not his own cruelty. No one should ever do what he did to _her_, his own wife for God's sake!

The fleeing ninja's tears of sorrow and rage joined the sky's ones. Without _her_ there was no reason to remain in that damned country. She was her mother and her only family. Because that _beast_ wasn't her father, had never been, and never will be. He admitted that much too, that he had no value for a useless failed experiment of a daughter like her.

Oh yeah, his experiment. Trying to integrate his summons' abilities in human DNA and create a brand new bloodline limit for himself. But as in all risky gambles, he needed to test on some subject first. And what better than his progeny, whose genetics was similar to his own?

If he had had his way he'd probably have breed tens of children until he had his damned bloodline, then he'd let them fight among each other until only the strongest survived. And finally, the last one of his offspring would have the honour of being killed by him.

Nice fucking idea of family he had.

Bastard.

Of course, his great plan died faster than a convict who had his head chopped off when she didn't gain any special power from his playing God.

Naturally that didn't mean he didn't force her to become a ninja. As soon as she could walk he had started her training and pretended the impossible from her. After all she still had his blood in her veins, so she had to become the strongest kunoichi in the world or die trying. Probably the bastard was hoping for the latter. The few sparring session she had with him certainly gave that impression.

He had the habit of scheduling one when something wasn't going as he wanted, and then take his frustration out on her in what officially was called training, and practically was a brutal beating. More often, however, he took his anger out on his wife, her mother; a kind lovely soul who he had basically kidnapped many years ago. He ripped her away from her country and friends, killed her family, and then made her his wife against her will. A will he then proceeded to break.

The girl had seen it in her mother's eyes, her will to live was long gone. She had held onto her life a bit longer only to see her grow up, to let her know that despite everything she loved her, and to try to shield her from her sire. The young kunoichi had often wondered how strong her mother really was to still be able to love her in spite of the circumstance that brought her into this world.

But eventually, a year ago, she died. And that beast just scoffed and shrugged. He didn't give a damn, he had ruined her life and he didn't give a damn about it. Bastard. Damned _fucking __**bastard**_.

The running girl chocked back a sob. She had decided that same night that she wouldn't remain there.

But she couldn't leave right then like she wanted either. He didn't want her, but he wouldn't let her leave. It was a honour or a pride thing; for him they were like properties, and for that he wouldn't let her go just like he didn't let her mother go.

And for that, he had ruined her mother's and her life; because he wouldn't let go of what was his, because he had an image.

Well fuck him and his damned image. It took an year but now she was leaving, and with the scrolls containing the most valuable jutsu of the village too. Take that bastard.

The best part was that she used his own paranoia and demands against him. No one had stopped her from taking the scroll because, albeit unwanted, she _was his_ _daughter_. Stopping her would have been like throwing an insult at him. And once she was out of the boarder hiding would be a piece of cake. Stupid shitstain, he didn't even know what her face looked like.

No one knew, really. She had _always_ kept her rebreather and bandanna on, taking them off only when alone with her mother. No one would dare to demand her anything because of their fear of that man, and he simply didn't give a fuck.

He wouldn't allow anyone to harm her because it was disrespectful towards him, but he didn't even care enough to look at her face. Hypocritical bastard.

She let out a bitter laugh without stopping her run, not caring for the tears falling from her green eyes. She was not only crying out of sadness, but from happiness too. She knew where she was, she had covered this very same track not more than three months ago when she was on patrol.

The border.

She was finally free, like her mother had dreamed for both of them, but didn't dare to hope. Free like she herself had wanted for both of her mother and herself. Free like she had never been before in her life.

'_I've done it, mom. I've done it. I'd just... I'd just want you to be here with me.'_

The young kunoichi stopped again and let the big scroll on her back fall on the ground. She then took off her hitai-ate that she was wearing like a bandanna. A cascade of long hair, as a fiery red-hot river of lava, covered her back all the way to her waist.

Taking out a kunai from a pouch secured on her right tight, she drew a horizontal line that crossed the four vertical ones that represented the Hidden Rain. Then, with that same knife she cut her index finger and started drawing symbols on the scroll that was previously on her back. Fuuinjutsu.

Two minutes later she finished her work and activated the seal. What once was a scroll almost her size, had shrunk enough to be carried in a pouch like normal scrolls.

'_Stupid thing was heavier than I thought, it made me waste too much time. I should have sealed it as soon as I took it'_

A shiver went down her spine at the thought of being caught in _his_ office while writing the seal to shrink the scroll. She took a deep breath to calm down the fear that thought brought to her. Maybe it would have been better to just leave the damn scroll behind, but after all her mother and her had suffered it seemed a good payback. Besides, it could be the only way for her to join another village.

_'But I don't know if that's what I want now that I'm finally free. Dammit, I can't believe I was so reckless! I must work on controlling myself, it could get me killed one day._'

Shaking her head, she pocketed the scroll, her headband, and her rebreather; then, with the same kunai as before that had never left her hand, she cut her pants to make them look shorter and used the cloth to bandage her arms. Finally she took off her jacket and wore it inside out, making it look green instead of grey.

With one last final glance towards the country she had lived in and suffered all her life until now, the girl turned away and dashed towards the wild unknown world.

-o-o-

Isamu closed his eyes and took a deep breath before walking towards his kage's private training ground. At first glance he seemed calm, but if one looked carefully enough they'd see the sweat collecting on his forehead as well as the slight trembling of his hands.

Why, why did he have to be the one to do this? He was too young to die, dammit.

The young jounin swallowed and kept going on. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the elite guards that always accompanied and surrounded his lord, their dark black cloaks and hoods, their rebreathers, their shining eyes like blood thirsty demons …

Isamu looked straight ahead and ignored both their presence and what he really hoped were fear-induced hallucinations. However, the thought that those ninja were demons somehow wouldn't leave his mind, and if they indeed were monsters, then he was going straight to the Evil God himself.

He was at the limit of the clearing where his kage was meditating when three of those guards appeared in front of him blocking his path. The jounin gave a document to one of them, who, after reading it, made some signs to his comrades in the trees. Meanwhile the other two demo- shinobi, dammit, searched and took away all his weapons.

Standing there completely defenceless made Isamu feel like an cockroach with a shoe over him.

Raising his eyes he finally saw the first good thing of his day: one of the guards was warning the meditating warlord of their village of his presence. That meant he won't die because of an automatic reflex, and could actually live long enough to talk.

Grimacing he wondered if it was really a good thing. That doubt was blown away when a pair of green eyes glared straight at him, it'd definitely have been better to just die right away than actually facing the angry God in front of him.

Isamu immediately kneeled at bowed his head and waited for permission to speak. He staid like that for a minute, a long interminable minute in which he felt like the man he was kneeling to could kill him with just his oppressive presence and nothing more.

Then finally he spoke, "What do you want?"

The deep and slightly metallic voice that came out of his rebreather sounded like a death sentence and clearly held contempt and disgust for Isamu's intrusion. After all he was just a common jounin, nothing compared to the deity that stood before him.

"My apologies Hanzou-sama, I would have never disturbed you but your daughter failed to present herself for her training this morning. We were expecting her an hour ago."

Direct and blunt, you don't want to waste Salamander Hanzou's precious time with unnecessary frivolities. He killed for less, and it was a well known fact that he didn't really like policies and word games, as long as you showed him respect you should come out alive. He was a pretty direct man in a very violent way.

"I see."

Those green eyes flashed with annoyance and some other similar emotions that Isamu prayed weren't directed at him. Those two last words were spoken with a finality that had scared him like nothing else ever had in his life.

Isamu didn't make a sound nor moved when Hanzou treaded on his left hand while passing him. Even when Hanzou and his demon guards had all left the clearing he still didn't move for another couple of minutes. Tears were tracing lines on his cheeks, he was alive and had only a broken hand.

_'Thank God'_

***


	2. First Impressions

**CHAPTER 1- First impressions**

Fire Country was one of the largest ninja nations, as well as one the richest and more powerful since the end of the second secret shinobi war. Another particularity was that it was the nation which shared borders with more countries than any other, something that was good for trades as much as it had been a danger during the war.

In particular, one of the countries on its north-western borders was with Kusa, a small buffer state in between the Fire and Earth countries, that, luckily enough for Grass and its habitants, had a pact of non-aggression.

On one of that small nation's roads two men, both Konoha shinobi judging from their headbands, were travelling further into Kusa towards the previously agreed meeting point with their client, the leader of a group of travelling merchants and families.

The older of the two, who was also the tallest, had spiky white hair that reached just below his shoulder, dark eyes with two red tear-like lines painted under them, dark blue pants and a long sleeved shirt of same colour with a armoured green jacket on top of it as well as metal protectors on both forearms.

He was walking slightly ahead, while the other seemed to be concentrated on something he was holding in his hand.

"Are you still in one piece back there?"

A grunt was all the answer the man received before his younger companion picked up another balloon after ditching the pierced one he had in his hand and went back to his work ignoring him.

"Seriously, you should take a break. I can't understand why you always have to be so stubborn. Besides what you're trying to do has to be the most advanced pure chakra spatial recomposition jutsu I've ever heard of. You should take it easy and not rush things."

"Shut it, ero-jijii."

The white haired man almost tripped at the insult, and looked back at the other with a betrayed expression.

"Why? How could you talk to me like that after all I've done for you? Is this the thanks and respect I get after I've taught you all you know!"

The younger ninja sighed and put his balloon away in his backpack, before grinning apologetically at his teacher. He had hair as spiky as his sensei's but a bit shorter, stopping above his shoulders, and bright blond. His eyes were light blue, and he too was wearing dark blue pants and long sleeved shirt under a green jacket. He lacked, however, the armour.

"Ah… Sorry Jiraiya-sensei, it's just that it's really hard to get this jutsu to do what I want it to, and I'm getting a bit frustrated. I know I'm close, I've got the rotation and the power I wanted, but controlling this is harder than I thought."

"Bha, you've been working on that for two years now, I doubt it'll come to you just out of the blue right now, so why don't you take a break? After all it wouldn't be any good if you exhausted yourself just before a mission, you should work on your pet projects in your own time off, at home."

Those words seemed to irritate the young blond, and his eyebrow twitched while he glared at the back of his teacher.

"Well, maybe if you weren't dragging me to the onsen, trying to hook me up with random girls like you were an old mother concerned other her eldest daughter, or just plainly annoy me on my time off, _maybe _I'd work on it then, sensei."

Jiraiya coughed lightly while looking ahead. Damn brat, he tries to help him with girls and this is his thanks. Really, he was already nineteen and still couldn't get a real girlfriend! He had the looks, had the brain, had the skills of a prodigy as a ninja, hell, he even had a fan club, how could he lack a girlfriend!

If this went on any longer, it could reflect badly even on _The Great Seducer Jiraiya_'s reputation. It was his student we're talking about here after all.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when they spotted a village less than a mile ahead of them, Basue. Exchanging a glance with his student, they nodded to each other and adopted a more serious and professional demeanour.

Basue was a little run-down settlement near the borders of Hi no Kuni and Taki no Kuni, the latter being an ally of the first as well as the destination of their client's convoy.

It seemed that somehow the people living in the area had developed a sort of sixth sense, not unlike that which warns the animals when a catastrophe is imminent, and now everyone who could was fleeing from Kusa. It was common knowledge after all that a pact of non-aggression between ninja villages often wasn't worth the paper it was written on, and if it came to it the Shinobi of Grass Country wouldn't be able to defend their home from Konoha and Iwa.

What made the situation worse was the extremely hostile and aggressive policy adopted by Ame in the last four or so years. Jiraiya had occasionally told him stories about the last war and Salamander Hanzou, and if the old toad hermit was right the belligerent attitude of the Hidden Rain was a consequence of someone pissing off that man like never before.

Jiraiya, after one of his nights spent drinking, had also declared that he'd be the personal slave of whoever had managed that feat. Orochimaru, who had been dragged along that night, had shockingly agreed shortly before both legendary ninja passed out.

-o-o-

Near the gates of Basue stationed four wagons surrounded by a little crowd. Although all the villagers seemed to have gathered, they were a depressingly low number of people, some of whom were carrying bags and boxes.

One of those, a woman who had long black hair with some grey and white locks combed in a braid, was wearing a light blue dress that looked curiously rich and comfortable at the same time. She was also carrying a bag from which could be heard the rustle of clothes, and she put it on one of the wagons before looking around as if in search of something or someone.

"Yasame, did you get everything, dear?"

The woman turned toward the voice and came face to face with a tall muscular man with short spiky brown hair and kind grey eyes. His voice was warm, but she could clearly identify an undertone of apprehension in it.

"Yes, don't worry. The only thing still missing is the box with the silk from Tea Country we bought last year, but I sent that girl who wanted to join the convoy to get it. She agreed to work as my assistant for the journey, I hope you don't mind."

The man smiled shaking to indicate he didn't, "Of course not. And Kaiza? Do you know where he is? I wanted to ask him to control the horses…"

"Kateru!" Another man yelled running towards him, "We've spotted two men coming here, they look like they're ninja from Konoha!"

Kateru left her to follow the other men going to greet the ninja they had paid to protect their convoy. Yasame watched him go before turning and looking for Kaiza in his place. He was growing to be a good man with a big heart, but in his haste to help others he often forgot his own duties.

Meanwhile the dark haired man, Kateru, had reached the gate where two shinobi were waiting for him.

He was shocked to find out that Jiraiya, one of the Densetsu no _Sannin, had been sent to carry out the mission to protect them. He was sure that the Leaf would have made them pay an extra to have one of the elite, but Jirayia had assured him that it wasn't the case._

_What he didn't tell him was that this escort mission was a perfect excuse for them to investigate the rumours about Iwa's intention to break the peace with Hi no Kuni, as well as checking out the small ninja forces of _Kusagakure and Takigakure.

As Kateru went on about the details of how many people were taking part on the journey, how much and

what goods they wanted to bring along, and possible itineraries; Jiraiya noticed out of the corner of his eye a group of about four or five girls looking at him and Minato.

Most importantly, however, was the fact that he could make out a distinctive kind of giggles and blushes when they were checking out his prized pupil. He hid a grin before turning to face the blond.

"Ohi, Minato, help making sure that everything's packed and good to go. We're leaving as soon as you finish."

The young jounin left to his assigned task, blissfully unaware of being under the scrutiny of several girls that were whispering and giggling in a way that would have reminded him too much of his sensei for his liking.

Unknown to both him and them, however, another person had taken in all of this and rolled her eyes. She didn't know what kind of disease it was, but as far as she could see the symptoms those girls where displaying included a limited thought process that was more or less like this:

Male: check.

Young: check.

Strong: check.

Handsome: check.

At this point here their brains, or what was left of them, became an utterly useless mass of jelly.

'_And _I_ am the younger one among them. God, spare me! Oh look, it seems he finally noticed. You're kinda slow for a ninja, you know?'_

Indeed, Minato had detected something strange around him since the very beginning, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was until one of the bolder girls decided to start a conversation with him. It was only then that the sudden realization of exactly how many people around him were females hit him, along with their very friendly behaviour.

The blond shinobi did what he always did while in this predicament, he grinned scratching the back of his head, then blurted out the first excuse that came to mind, "Sorry, I have to check the other wagons", and tried to flee.

Some would call it Fate, others Destiny, some others Chance or Accident. Minato will end up calling it "the luckiest misfortune to ever happen". Many years later the red-haired, sixteen years old girl carrying a bag full of silk fabrics he knocked down will call it "sheer dumb stupidity of blonds".

And even right then and there, when she saw the precious cargo she had to bring to the tailor's wagon fall in the dirt as the box broke, she didn't beat around the bush.

"Damn, way to go mister ninja. Thanks to your clumsiness my pay will be halved, and that's if I'm lucky. Maybe all that bleach and dye you used on your hair has reached your brain too, ne?"

Minato, who was going to apologize, immediately changed his mind as his face went red, a consequence of both his embarrassment and anger at being insulted like that.

"I'll have you know that my hair is natural miss red-wig. And it's your fault for sneaking up on me."

"Well, if you can't notice when someone is walking right next to you, then you must be a pretty shitty ninja. I wonder how the hell you managed to stay alive for so long." Here she paused and narrowed her eyes glaring at Minato murderously, "And what did you say about my hair?"

The blond jounin felt a shiver run down his spine at that. Now he remembered why you should never insult a woman's look. On the other hand, he suddenly realized that it wasn't a woman who was standing in front of him, but a girl a couple years younger that him.

Beside he was on a mission, so he decided to show some maturity and drop the matter.

"Ah, nothing, forget it. Sorry for knocking you down, do you need a hand with those fabrics kid?"

This time it took him decidedly less than before to grasp the fact that he made a big mistake. The killer intent the redhead was directing at him was a sign as explicit as one could.

For her part she couldn't believe what this moron had just called her. Kid.

KID!

When he was most likely less then twenty himself!

'I'll kill him. No, I'll torture him to death. He'll cry and beg me stop before I'll fucking strangle him with his own intestines.'

Her grimy and slightly disturbing thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of another young man, this one with shorter and darker hair and one single line on his chin, a scar from a fishing accident with a hook that happened when he was a kid.

"Hey Kushina, what's going on? Do you need any help?"

Minato had heard stories from his sensei about it, but this was the first time he could witness up close the infamous volatile and double-faced nature of the female gender work on such a scale. Faster then anything he had ever seen, the bratty redhead in front of him turned from murderous demon to cute, panicked, little girl.

"Kaiza? Oh no, I'm so sorry, Yasame-san told me to bring her these fabrics, but now they're all dirty… I'll clean them, I swear, and if they're damaged I'll repair them. I'll work for free till I've repaid you, really, I'll do it."

Minato himself had trouble believing that this was the same brat that just a second before seemed determined to eviscerate him with her bare hands with the way she was acting now. Of course, when the newcomer glared at him accusingly he knew that, regardless of whatever he could say, Kaiza would consider him responsible. Damn girl and her kawaii act. She was a devil, he knew it.

"Don't worry Kushina-chan," the dark haired youth said turning to smile at her, "I'll talk with her. After all these things happens all the time, especially when we're in a hurry to pack things."

When he finished to talk Kaiza sent another glare at the blond, who remained stone-faced without betraying his thoughts.

'_Oh, great! Now I have to deal with her boyfriend antagonizing me. Sensei, where are you?'_

Luckily for the Leaf Jounin someone did in fact arrive on the scene, and, even if it was only a dark haired woman, she saved him from being forced to take all the blame of the situation. Although when she called the other two youths by their names he wondered if he really was safe or not.

"Kaiza! Kushina! I was looking for you two, where were you? Never mind, Kaiza, your father wanted you to check the horses,"

"Already done, mom." The boy promptly answered.

"And Kushina, don't worry about those silk fabrics, just bring them on the wagon, we'll see if they're salvageable or not later, right now we don't have time."

"I'm on it Yasame-san." The red head replied while shooting off to gather all the pieces of cloth still on the ground.

Finally the woman looked at him and smiled apologetically, "You must be one of our escorts, a ninja from Konoha, right? I'm sorry about the confusion, but it seems that there's always some things we all forget until the last minute."

"That's so true, but we'll do anything to help, my dear lady." Jiraiya had literally materialized besides them.

Kateru joined them soon after and proceeded to formally introduce them.

"Ah, Yasame this is the famous Jiraiya-sama, he and his apprentice will be our escorts. Namikaze Minato, was it?" The blond nodded curtly, murmuring something about being neither a 'student' nor an 'apprentice' anymore.

"And this lovely woman is my wife, Yasame, while the young man over there is our son Kaiza."

The civilian family couldn't see it, but for Minato it was painfully easy to see his sensei's hand twitch the second he heard the word 'wife'.

It wasn't common knowledge outside the village, but there was a rumour about ninja rule #96 that Jiraiya was the cause of its addition to the code. Said rule stated that a ninja must keep a professional relationship with the clients and their family, and never become intimate with the contractor's consort.

Now, wasn't that funny?

Officially nothing happened, but Minato managed to get his hands on a curious tale, one that went back to when Jiraiya operated as a lone jounin. According to what he heard, one day the toad sennin was assigned a mission which required him to steal an industrial secret for a rich lord who felt threatened by the fast growth of a little company in a neighbouring village.

Jiraiya didn't agree with it, knowing that he'd condemn a lot of hard workers to poverty because of the lord's greed, but as a ninja under contract there was nothing he could do but complete his assignment.

The day he returned with the information, the lord was so pleased he invited him to spend the night, and gave a banquet to celebrate the success. The following morning, however, when he caught Jiraiya laying in bed with his wife, he wasn't so happy anymore.

Of course the political consequences could have, should have, been disastrous; after all who would employ a shinobi who would bed your wife? Or your husband?

No one knows exactly how but, luckily for Konoha and its economy, the Sandaime managed to solve everything, calling in favours and using his wits. Minato knew for a fact that the other kage had tried to get the knowledge on how Sarutobi had kept it all under control more than once.

Anyway, although officially all of this never happened, Jiraiya had to be punished somehow. Many of those who somehow got wind of The Incident still think that he got away with it, but looking closely at the dates one would notice that a week after that Jiraiya, who until then had refused to even take an apprentice under his wing claiming to "not have time to change diapers for some little brat", was saddled with Minato's genin team.

The fact that the pervert turned out to be an amazing teacher never ceased to amaze both the Sandaime and Jiraiya himself. The blond will preserve the memory of his sensei's expression on their first meeting, though, especially the way the Toad hermit had stared at him when he saw that Minato was an early graduate, him being a couple of years younger then Reimaru.

It was the same face the heremit made every time Shima, the toad better known as Ma, invited him for dinner or lunch.

On the other hand their third member, Mikoto, had been older and had been joining them simply because her previous team had been disbanded.

Suddenly, pain erupted from his shin.

"Ow, the hell was that for?"

"We're leaving mister ninja," the red haired bratty girl who had just kicked him (pretty hard too) told him, "and although I'd rather not have a daydreamer as an escort of this convoy, you're being paid just for that. Oh well, if it comes to worst I guess you can be a nice meat shield."

She turned and left without giving him time to reply, but nonetheless he muttered his answer.

"Bitch."

"Now, now, my boy; with an attitude like that you won't get her." Jiraiya, who somehow materialized behind him, said sagely putting an arm around his shoulders, "You should have told me you liked 'em younger, though, it would have saved us a lot of time. Don't worry, I know just the- Hey, where are you going?"

Minato didn't waste time answering his delirious sensei, and instead went at his post at the back of the convoy. Jiraiya shook his head at him with a sigh and reached Kateru and his family who would lead the group during the trip.

In less than a minute they finally left and started their journey towards Waterfall Country.

-o-o-

From her place on the first cart Kushina observed the legendary ninja of the Leaf. She had heard of Jiraiya and his two teammates, Tsunade and Orochimaru, straight from the one who gave them their title of Densetsu no sannin.

That _man_, if he could be called as such, had praised their skills and teamwork while at the same time boasting on how he beat all of them three on one. He also liked to mock her for her incompetence compared to those three, something that was ridiculous to do considering her age at the time, but no one bothered pointing it out and get themselves killed. He used to tell her that he let them live so that one day she'd be able to fight and kill them to prove her skills too.

Well, fuck him and what he wanted. This Jiraiya guy seemed a good person, although in Kushina's book _anyone_ going up against Hanzo was good, something she'd continue to think for some more years. In any case she'd rather side with the Densetsu no Sannin then oppose them. If nothing else just to spite the bastard.

As she observed him, her attention was caught by the red spiral on the back of his jacket. She knew that chuunin and jounin from Konoha wore green jackets with pockets on the front, but she always wondered what that red spiral on the back stood for, and if it was related to the fact that the leaf engraved on their hitai-ate was designed like a spiral too.

"So, Kushina-chan, I didn't catch your full name?" The Toad summoner's voice caught her off guard.

"Uh…Uzumaki. Uzumaki Kushina." _'Nononono, stupid name, stupid. Damn symbol it's your fault! Why the hell didn't I come up with a clan name before? Why didn't _anyone_ ask before? I'm gonna get myself killed one of these days! Shit!'_

Really, the name Kushina had been easy to come up with, it was what her mother had wanted to call her, and what she had secretly always considered her name. For a clan name though, despite how much she'd have liked to, using her mother's was out of the question, as it was too much of a risk in case a Rain-nin caught wind of it.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya brought a hand to his chin and assumed a thoughtful expression.

"Uzumaki… You wouldn't happen to be from Whirlpool Country, would you? I mean it seems like a native name from there."

The only things the red haired girl knew about that land was its location and some basic economic and military information she was taught in case she'd ever had to go there on a mission. Of course this was not what she said, instead she took the chance offered to her. Good thing she had a talent for thinking on the spot.

"My grandparents came from Whirlpool soon after marrying, as they didn't like living so close to Kiri, but both my father and I were born and grew up here in Grass Country, in a village near the southern border, where my mother's family lived. I don't really know much about Whirlpool seeing that when I was a kid my grandparents decided to go back there, only God knows why, and we didn't hear from them ever since."

'_Wow, I'm __**good**__ at this. Still, from now on I'll better plan carefully and think far head.'_ Mentally she scoffed at herself, knowing that she had repeated this same thing more times then she cared to count.

"I see." Jiraiya stated nodding, "And your parents?"

"Died a year ago in the epidemic that hit our village."

Kushina had actually been in a southern village that was plagued by some mortal disease the previous year, and, while she did avoid being infected, she felt ill every time she thought at the condition the sicks were left in.

"You're making a whole lot of question Jiraiya-sama." She said it playfully, but inwardly she hoped he'd stop before she contradicted herself.

The white haired hermit chuckled lightly, "Sorry, just a last one, if I may? How old are you?"

Kushina blinked before answering honestly "Sixteen."

"Oh-oh, you've just come of age, then. How wonderful." There was a subtle change in his gait and eyes, and suddenly she was reminded of the reputation the man in front of her had aside of that of a powerful ninja.

"Jiraiya-sama, I have a deep respect for your talents as a shinobi, but if you ever try to 'pick me up' I'll kick your ass with your own feet"

While saying that she was smiling in the same way Tsunade used to, prompting Jiraiya to wave his hands in front of him in a placating manner. The Sannin then sped up a bit so that he was at the front of the cart where Kateru, who was the one driving the cart, and his wife were.

"Damn, that girl has quite the temper." He muttered, eliciting a small chuckle from Kateru.

"Yeah, Kushina-chan has a very fiery temper, doesn't she? But She's also a good girl at heart, I must say I'm happy she joined us for this journey. I'd be worried if she hadn't, it's not safe for a young girl like her to wander alone." The dark haired man admitted.

His wife sighed and added "I hope she'll stay a bit longer than that."

Both Jiraiya and her husband looked at her curiously, silently asking her to elaborate. For her part Yasame assumed an incredulous expression, directed mainly at her husband.

"Oh, come on dear, I know you've never been a keen observer, but you can't have missed _this_."

He didn't even try hide his ignorance as he stared at her blankly.

The woman rolled her eyes before pointing at the back of the cart with a nod of her head. The two men looked back to see Kaiza offering to help Kushina with the silk fabrics that had fallen on the ground earlier, all the while stealing some glances at her when she wasn't paying attention.

"Ah." Kateru commented eloquently, "So you employed her to play matchmaker for our son."

That earned him a glare.

"I'm just helping him a bit with a nice girl he's showing an interest in. Besides it's better if I am the one who helps him since I'm definitely the one with the best taste here; after all if it wasn't for me opening your eyes you'd have married that harpy green haired witch… what was her name?"

"Ma-*cough* I don't remember." Kateru promptly stopped himself, avoiding a two hours rant and the following day-long cold shoulder, receiving instead a content smile from his sweet wife.

Jiraiya snickered softly and turned to look up ahead.


	3. Opinions

I apologize if toward the end the quality of this chapter suffers, but the forum I go to receive feedback has become increasingly useless lately.

* * *

**CHAPTER 2 - Opinions**

A little girl was laying on the floor with a book and a dictionary in front of her. The book was a simple one about the ninja villages and it contained even some basics about chakra and handseals.

The child, who looked around four years old, was frowning at the pages, partially because she had an hard time with reading and understanding some lines, and partially because she didn't really want to study those things.

She wanted to go and see her mother who, the child noticed, seemed sad lately. Or maybe she had always been but she didn't see it before? In any case her mother looked a little bit happier when she visited her, so she wanted to go.

The child didn't understand why her father forbid her to go outside her room except for when one of her tutors accompanied her, nor why he never spent any time with her. He was an important man with many responsibilities, or so her teachers said. They looked uncomfortable when she asked.

Still, there was something about him that unsettled her. Maybe it was the coldness that never left his eyes, or the disappointment that he never even tried to conceal when looking at her. Or the shadows -_ninja?_- that followed him everywhere. Or maybe the fact that anyone who spoke with him seemed terrified by his mere presence.

The noise of something falling on the floor and breaking, followed by muffled screams, startled the child out of her thoughts. They seemed to come from one of the rooms on the ground floor, and for once the little girl decided she'd go and steal a look at what was going on without her teachers accompanying her.

Reaching the doorknob wasn't easy, but she managed and found herself in the corridor. She made her way to the stairs and went down. The voices were clearer now, even if they weren't yelling anymore she could recognize her father's voice muffled by that strange mask he always wore.

Tiptoeing down the corridor, the child got to the more traditional sliding door which hid her father and she pulled to open it. The panel run on its wooden rails to reveal a scene that would scar the girl forever…

-o-o-

The first thing Kushina felt was a hand on her shoulder.

Her reaction was an automatic reflex more than anything. She grabbed her knife, which she _always_ kept within reach regardless of the situation, grasped the wrist of her aggressor and pulled while rolling on her back. She ended up straddling the one who was shaking her shoulder while holding the knife at his throat.

Minato froze and controlled the impulse to gulp, least the blade at his throat cut him.

The redhead on top of him had her eyes unfocused and was looking around frantically. He also noticed that her breathing was shallow and sweat covered her forehead despite the cool air of the night.

After a minute of patiently waiting for the girl to get her bearings, she finally looked down at him and glared, waiting for an explanation.

"Ah… I thought to wake you up since it seemed you were having a bad dream. You were whimpering and moving around in your sleep, you know?"

The last part, which Minato had added as a sort of revenge for her not having removed that damned knife from his throat, caused Kushina to blush heavily in embarrassment. She also seemed to suddenly realize the position they were in, with her straddling him, which didn't help her in that regard.

"Whatever, don't expect me to thank you." The red head said while hastily standing up and turning her back to him.

Maybe it was only because he was used to girls fawning over him, but her attitude was really annoying the blonde. He was just trying to help, what the hell was her problem?

"I didn't expect it anyway, after all only civilized people thank who helps them. Next time I'll save myself the trouble and just leave you to cry in your sleep."

Minato saw her flinch at that and immediately regretted saying those words. He didn't really mean them, and they came out harsher than he intended them to be. He sighed and opened his mouth to apologize…

"I'm sorry."

…only to be beaten to it by Kushina. He blinked and looked at her back, surprised that she would not only say it, but mean it too. At least judging by her tone.

The younger girl turned around to face him, even though she avoided eye contact. She was hugging herself and was shivering slightly, but somehow Minato doubted that it was because of the night air.

"You're right, I was having a nightmare. I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just… Living on the road has given me some problems with sleeping or just plain relaxing. I've heard ninja have them too, right?"

The Leaf jounin simply nodded at her. Most of his friends had trouble lowering their guards even in their own homes, some out of paranoia, others because they were haunted by memories of missions gone wrong.

"Want to talk about it?" Minato offered, "The dream I mean. It can help sometimes."

Kushina smiled and shook her head. Her half smile was meant to let him know that, even if she declined, she appreciated the gesture. The blond was just stunned by how much softer and prettier she looked like that, almost a whole different person from the loud annoying tomboy she was.

He wasn't offended, after all most people don't want to share potentially personal info like what they dreamed about with the first ninja that was assigned the mission to protect them. But still, a little part of him felt disappointed, this little red haired girl in front of him wasn't an air head like all the other civilian females he had come in contact with, and he found himself hoping they could become friends.

With that last thought in mind, he grinned and wished her good night as she went back to her futon, while he himself jumped on a nearby tree where he resumed his watch over the camp.

-o-o-

The first rays of sunlight hit Kushina's face waking her up before anyone else. She didn't really mind getting up so early. As demonstrated by that night 'accident', sleep wasn't always a peaceful and relaxing experience for her, although she had to admit that there had been some huge improvements from when she first left Amegakure.

Back then she couldn't sleep for more then two hours, the fear of being found and dragged back making her wake up at the slightest disturbance. She also always found tears trailing down her cheeks when she awakened.

Stretching lightly, she grabbed a bucket and began to walk towards the nearby river, enjoying the chilling morning air.

Once reached the shore, she placed the bucket on the ground next to her as she knelt down and dipped her hands in the ice cold water. The redhead scooped up some water and splashed her face, the action waking her up fully.

Kushina inhaled deeply with her eyes closed, then opened them to look up at the dawn sky and calmly breathed out.

After taking the bucket and filling it up, she turned and went back to rejoin the others who were starting to get up. The exception was the tall white haired shinobi leaning against a tree at the edge of the camp, as if to wait for her, who looked like he had been up for a while. Something that was probably true, as Kushina just realized.

"You were awake to guard us, Jiraiya-sama, weren't you?"

He smiled at her, "Bright girl. Yes, well, it's what I'm paid for. And for your information, I think you made a very cute picture while sleepily going to the stream."

Kushina's happy mood suddenly wasn't so happy anymore. With a murmured pervert and some curses she went to help Yasame making breakfast.

Jiraiya chuckled and jumped on a tree to see if Minato was already up and ready or if he needed a kick to get going. Sadly it wasn't the case, as the blond seemed to have developed a sixth sense for when the Toad Hermit was thinking of throwing him off a tree. Or a cliff. Or a roof. A ramp of stairs. Gamabunta's back.

After being thrown down anywhere he could be, Minato now woke up whenever Jiraiya was less then four steps from him. Which was fun too in its own way.

"We should reach the giant bamboo thicket forest by noon today. It's only a couple miles south of the Kannabi bridge, so I guess we're going to part soon. "

His voice would have sounded normal to anyone else, but Jiraiya had known him long enough to detect the slight anxiousness in his student's tone. He didn't even need to see Minato's face, which was glued to a map of the area, to know he was frowning. The toad summoner put an hand on his prized pupil's shoulder and patted him.

"Don't worry Minato, your work will be easy enough, and I can take care of myself just fine. Have some confidence."

"To be honest, I'm more worried about what you may find out, sensei."

Minato rolled up the map and put it back in his backpack. Without further words the two ninja jumped down the tree and went to help their clients re-packing everything they had used to camp, and the whole convoy left soon after.

A couple of hours later they were all travelling, Jiraiya was walking near the front while Minato was beside the last wagon. They hadn't talked since early morning, Minato because he was worried and Jiraiya because he was thinking of both what he'll have to do and how to reassure him.

In the end, the self-proclaimed Greatest Wooer and Hero Jiraiya-sama, decided that what his student really needed was some wisdom from his magnificent teacher. The whispering and giggling girls who somehow gathered near his student at the end of the convoy, only made it easier.

Slowing down until he was walking with Minato, the white haired man spoke quietly with his second favourite blond (after all there were two very big and good reason that kept Tsunade as number one in that list).

"You know Minato, those girls are eating you with their eyes. I'd suggest you that black haired one, very beautiful, and outrageous curves. Although the brunette sisters on her left would be to die for if you convince them to share..."

"Stop it, sensei. Even if I was interested, _which I'm not_, they're civilians we're escorting." Minato rebutted with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Oh come on Minato, don't be so picky. While I can agree about kunoichi having a certain appeal to them, you have to keep in mind that civilian girls can be just as pretty with the bonus that they're less likely to beat you into a coma."

"I don't plan to give girls a reason to beat me, sensei. And you totally missed my point."

"Yeah, yeah, the whole 'our lives are too different', 'she wouldn't understand me', 'I want a strong girlfriend who can look after herself', I heard those same things thousands of times, brat."

Minato was itching to punch him by now: first he feels the need to repeatedly try to hook him up, then he twist his words, and now he's gone back to calling him brat?

"But you know, just because a gal isn't a ninja it doesn't mean she is defenceless. For example I heard from Kateru-san and Yasame-san a bit about that little redhead, Kushina-chan. She's quite the firecracker and definitely someone who can defend herself."

The poor blond closed his eyes for a second when Jiraiya elbowed him and winked while talking about the young Uzumaki. Since simply saying 'I'm not interested' didn't seem to work, Minato tried another approach to shut him up.

"Sensei, please. She's _sixteen_!"

"So what?" Jiraiya responded, "It's only three years, they may seem like a big difference to you _now_, but I can guarantee you that once you both grow a bit more, you won't even realize it."

"What about rule 96?"

The toad summoner looked a bit uncomfortable, "What about that?"

"Well it's obvious that Kaiza-san has an interest in her, and since it's his parents who are officially our employers, add to that the warnings Sandaime-sama gave to you specifically about that rule, and with me being your student…"

"Ok, ok, I get it. Geez, you're really out to ruin my fun, aren't you? Ungrateful brat."

"Old pervert."

"And proud of it, boy."

Minato could only roll his eyes before going to take his place at the rear of the convoy. Really, why couldn't his sensei understand that he wasn't interested in getting a girlfriend now? He wanted to concentrate on his ninja career and to add to it a war seemed to be approaching… it wasn't the time to think about getting hooked up.

And even if it was, he'd definitely never go for a younger wanderer civilian girl with a personality that clashed so horribly with his own. Out of question.

"Anyway sensei, why are you so interested in her? I mean, you kept talking with her, or asking about her to Kateru-san and Yasame-san. I thought you'd be talking with the girls in the last wagon, if nothing else because you wouldn't look like a paedophile with them..."

"A pae- she's of age, Minato." Jiraiya hissed, "And as _shocking_ as it may be for you, I don't think only about sex."

The blond stared back at his mentor expressionlessly.

"I'm serious, you little ungrateful brat. If you really need to know, I just... Well, when she glared at me yesterday, I had the weirdest déjà vu , somehow looking her in the eyes sent a shiver down my back."

The young jounin looked inquisitively at the older man, one of the great sannin of Konoha, a shinobi renowned in all the elemental countries. Why should he be intimidated by a little girl like that redhead?

The question was clearly written on his face as Jiraiya answered him.

"I don't know. Yet. That's why I was making so many questions. It doesn't matter, I'm sure I've never met her before, probably she simply looks like someone else. Anyway, don't let this distract you, just remember to keep your eyes open and everything will be fine."

While Minato didn't share the same optimism as his sensei, there really wasn't anything else he could do.

-o-o-

Grass Country had some of the more widely varied landscapes in the continent. Forests, grasslands, mountains, rivers and bamboo thickets, somehow they all fitted into that small patch of land. The real characteristic of Grass, however, was the numerous ravines that contoured the land.

As a consequence, Grass was also the nation with the highest count of bridges within its territory, and one of the most important was the same Kannabi bridge located only a few miles north of where a little group of travellers, mainly merchants and their families, stopped to have a quick lunch.

They'd normally have eaten without stopping, but two of the five children in the convoy were feeling sick, and as a plus, the ninja protecting them stated a little break wouldn't have affected the timetable anyway. They also added in a lower tone that the place was clear of bandits, and an ambush in the bamboo thicket forest was unlikely.

Of course, just to be on the safe side, they still went to scout the surroundings, so the former citizens of Basue were left alone as they eat a meager lunch and two families hastily warmed some broth for their youngsters.

There was among them also a red spot, clearly sticking out like a sore thumb in that environment, belonging to nonother than Kushina's hair.

"Are you sure you don't need help with anything else?"

"Yes, don't worry dear. Those two little hellions just aren't used to travelling, they'll be better soon."

Naoko, the mother of one of the sick children, smiled at the young girl with gratitude.

She, like a few others, had been a bit unsure about letting a stranger join their group, but didn't have the heart of denying her a chance. Nor the guts of going against Yasame, that woman could be wicked and had taken a shine to the lone girl.

Naoko thought it was because she saw herself in the young teenager, as Yasame too wasn't born in Basue.

She and her family had moved there when the dark haired woman was only a shy ten year old, and had to work hard to make some friends in the little village. Then, when she turned twenty, there was that dispute with Mariko, Kateru's girlfriend at the time, over him. No one would have expected the once timid girl to win as she did.

But it was only the previous day that she gained some understanding on her choice to help the young girl. It had taken less than two hours for Kushina's talk about her life to travel from the first wagon to the last one, and somehow it was like gossiping back in the village.

Naoko now truly felt guilty for having thought of letting the poor redhead go alone and couldn't be happier that she was with them. Kushina was after all a very nice person, worked hard, and tried to help everyone even if she officially, as an employee, was only bound to help Yasame and her family.

She always woke up before anyone else, went to a nearby river, and brought some fresh water back when they started to get up. She lend an hand to everyone when they packed, and was one of the last to lay down to sleep at night.

Everyone had come to like her quickly enough. Only the mothers of the others girls joked about how she was an hinderance for having caught the interest of such a good match as Kaiza, even if he wasn't interested in his parents' trade and chose pursuing his dream of becoming a fisherman. On the contrary, that was even better as it meant his eventual wife would inherit it.

But it seemed that girls nowadays preferred to stare dreamily at the admittedly really handsome, young and strong ninja passing by rather than thinking seriously about their future.

With a sigh, Naoko shook her head and went back to her son, internally cheering at not having to worry about finding him a nice spouse for a long time.

Meanwhile, just out of sight from the camp, Minato was looking at his sensei doing a last check on his equipment. A medium sized toad, which reached the blond's shoulder height, was standing beside him, watching as its summoner was getting ready.

"Very well, it seems this is it." Jiraiya said, now looking Minato in the eyes, "From now on, Gamashiro will take my place."

As if on clue, at those words that toad transformed in a perfect copy of its summoner. It even grinned widely and gave Minato a thumbs up.

"I gave him a lot of my chakra, but just in case the henge will exhaust his reserves faster than expected you can use that seal we worked on to to pass him some of yours. If everything goes according to the plan I'll reach you at the border with Waterfall country, but don't stop there just to wait for me. Go on till you bring them to destination, eventually you'll go to the safe house I told you about after that."

"I know, sensei. You've said the same things a thousand times already." Minato tried to joke, but a slight worry was still identifiable on his face.

Jiraiya smiled proudly at him, the only student he had left. He deeply wished for his spying operation to refute the rumours that had been going on for the last three months about Iwa amassing its forces. He had already lived through a war, and dearly wished to avoid another one.

"Ok, ok. Just remember, if you take up any of those girls I want you to put everything down on paper, so that when I get back you can tell me in details everything you did, how you did it, where, and how many times."

Minato inched the bridge of his nose, "For the love of... You're unbelievable, sensei."

The white haired man chuckled lightly, ruffled his pupil's hair -an action he _knew_ pissed Minato off- and turned around. With three steps and a jump he was soon out of sight, but the blond jounin remained there staring off into space a bit longer. At least until an hand slammed into his back, making his knee alsmost give out.

"Cheer up, brat. Jiraiya-kun will be back soon, and in the meantime I'll keep you company. Now, why don't we go back to these pretty girls you were talking about?"

Minato blinked at the Jiraiya-look-alike-toad. Then, as he noticed just how well done that half-leer was, he groaned. He should have expected it, a perverted toad was just ideal for impersonating that perverted leech that was his sensei.

With a heavy sigh the human and the henged summon walked back to their clients to get them back on the road. Minato already didn't feel too comfortable with using this escort mission as a cover to let his sensei get near and into Iwa territory, and now he had to guard the travellers alone, except for a toad whose greatest skill was the transformation technique. He'd do his best to protect them, anyway.

As they were about to rejoin the group, however, the blond was startled by noneother than the young Uzumaki almost bumping into him.

"Oh, here you are. Kateru-san sent me to look for you, we're ready to resume our travel, Jiraiya-sama."

"Very well, my dear, let's hurry back." It was almost disturbing how much Gamashiro resembled his summoner.

Still, while walking back, Minato decided to point out the fact he was there too, especially considering that from a technical point of view _he_ was the only escort left there.

"I thought we were starting from scratch Uzumaki, why is it that you see fit to ignore my presence?" His tone remained light nonetheless, almost jokingly if one were to pay attention.

"I'm sorry Namikaze, -that's your name, right?- but if you want me to be honest, I don't think you're that good of a ninja."

Minato opened his mouth, then when a comeback failed to come, closed it. He was thrown off balance by that blunt opinion, he had always been considered particularly gifted in the ninja arts. He even graduated early and made jounin when he was younger than the average chuunin.

"What makes you say that?" he asked as he found his voice again, "You don't even know how ninja are trained or how they operate, did you even saw any carrying out a mission?"

Kushina, who was walking slightly ahead of him, looked back from over her shoulder when answering.

"Well, it's true I don't know much about shinobi, but I doubt a good one would have let himself be beaten so easily by me as you did. I could have killed you last night."

"Last night?"

The fake Jiraiya had stopped abruptly and turned towards them. Even that glint in his eyes was exactly the same the real sannin would have displayed, and that made Minato reach a conclusion: he'd never, ever, summon toads.

"You _are_ a lolicon after all, then!"

Never.

Deciding to behave as if he was dealing with the real Jiraiya, he promptly ignored him, and motioned the young girl who was looking between them with an half-amused half-troubled expression to do the same.

He wasn't going to respond how he had let her put that knife on his throat, and even then, he could have easily disarmed or killed her with minimum effort, but he hadn't seen the need to. She had been clearly upset and she wasn't a treat, and he preferred avoiding the use of force in those cases.

Besides he really had nothing to prove to her. That is, unless they were attacked, then he'd show his worth through his actions rather than with words.

Minato followed the disguised toad and Kushina who re-joined the group, doing his best to politely shack off the girls who were suggestively smiling and waving at him.

It was a bit like being back in the academy, only worse since back there he was in a class with girls two years older than him and while they found him 'cute' he wasn't considered as dating material. It was true that nowadays many girls had revised their opinion, but between missions and training he didn't have to spend long periods of time with them if he didn't want to.

Off to the side he noticed Kaiza offering an helping hand to the Uzumaki girl to get on the wagon. He had to wonder about it. While the redhead was undeniably strong-willed and likeable, he was sure Kaiza could have had any of the older and more beautiful girls who were currently casting sheep's eyes at him.

Damn, but he hated being looked at like that, he never knew how to let them down without sounding like an ass. And it wasn't lack of practice either, since Minato did attract quite a number of girls. He just never managed to formulate his words in the right way.

He was either too gentle, which only encouraged them to try harder, or too harsh, which caused the girl he was talking to to either burst out crying, or yelling at him for being a bastard too full of himself who thought he could step on anyone's feeling.

Damn, but that one girl had scared him, she had gone nuts when he said he didn't want to go out with her.

"Hey brat! Stop daydreaming and get back to work, I won't do all the work, got it?"

Stupid toad, had to treat him just like Jiraiya-sensei. Minato knew that if he asked Gamashiro could say that it was for appearance's sake, but that overgrown frog was having too much fun in his opinion.

-o-o-

At the Kannabi bridge, a couple miles northward from where he left his student and a summon, the real Jiraiya observed a little team of three chuunin wearing the stone headbands studying the bridge that, should a war really break out, would inevitably become a major supply line path.

While the fact a team was indeed already checking out the bridge was suspicious, his mission was trying to find either a concrete confirmation or a refutation to all those suspicions that were already circulating in the most informed circles of the ninja villages.

So he stealthily slipped by them and went past the ravine using the underside of the bridge. He absently noted the lack of traps and idly wondered whatever those chuunin were sent to set some up, after all.

Leaving them and those thought behind, he resumed his run northward. He'd have to reach and cross the border within the day if he wanted to have a chance at keeping up with the timetable. It'd have been easier if he had had time to complete that transport jutsu he was working on with some toads, but he'd have to get into Earth country the old fashioned way.

-o-o- 3?

"So, the Hokage are giants as big as a mountain?"

"No, it isn't like that, you stupid. They have statues that big, representing the Hokage, and they protect the village."

Minato stoically watched ahead ignoring the argument even as he wanted to bang his head on the ground. Twenty minutes prior he had told the chatty and amazed girls about the Hokage's heads carved on the mountain that symbolically watched over the village. What followed was total madness as each one of them interpreted his words in a different way.

"You mean that there are giant golems around Konohagakure no Sato? Isn't that dangerous? What if they decided to attack the village?"

"No, no. They protect it! Weren't you listening?"

He idly wondered why he seemed to attract only brainless flirt, while the majority of smart and talented women he knew liked him only as a friend or treated him like a younger brother. It was a curse.

He could understand Mikoto, she was already in a relationship with Fugaku and she _was_ older than him by a good five years, but it was like at some point all the silly girls scared away the ones he found more interesting with their shrilly voices.

That or they assumed that he had taken up Jiraiya's habits and avoided him as a consequence.

"Am I right, Minato-kun?"

The blond blinked and turned to look at the brown haired girl -he had no idea what her name was- that had just spoken to him.

"Er... I have to check something with my sensei, if you'll excuse me."

He wasn't fleeing.

He was an elite jounin, one of the strongest ninja of the Leaf, and the youngest to have such a title in the whole village.

He was not fleeing.

He was tactically retreating.

It wasn't his fault, the blond simply didn't like being dragged into a pointless diatribes, and if he didn't leave he may end up saying something really rude that he may regret. Again.

In addition, the continuous arguing was not only giving him an headache, but it was also making paying attention to his surroundings much more difficult that it was supposed to be.

As he neared the front where Gamashiro was, he could hear female laughter behind him and... ahead?

_'Ah, right, must be Uzumaki. I guess Kaiza-san managed to get to her._'

That thought was relieving, both because it meant he'd distract the little girl from her habit to insult him as soon as he was within hearing distance, and because it meant the dark haired guy wouldn't have a reason to glare murderously at him.

It was unnerving, because should Kaiza decide to attack, the young jounin couldn't exactly retaliate. Technically speaking Kaiza's parents were the only ones paying the mission, although Minato knew that everyone in the group had contributed paying it was custom to have only one or two names as the contractors.

Damn bureaucracy, the blond didn't envy the poor bastards that had to act as paper-pushers for the Hokage.

Minato reached his fake sensei and tapped him on the shoulder once, then twice then another final time, hoping Jiraiya had taught his summons basic signs codes. Luckily it seemed so as Gamashiro excused himself from the conversation he was having with Kateru-san and turned to him with a serious expression.

"A scout?"

Minato nodded, careful to keep his voice low, "Seems so, I think a larger group of bandits ahead may be preparing an ambush. If they noticed us, though, they may decide that it's not worth the risk, assuming there aren't ninja in that group."

"I doubt there are any, they'd have had the brains to send a scout who could avoid being spotted." Gamashiro seemed to share the same ability as Jiraiya to switch from perverted idiot to competent fighter when the need arose, "I won't be able to do much without giving away that I'm not Jiraiya, can you do this alone?"

"You mean defeat a group of thugs with no skill that think they have the element of surprise? Since I was an academy student." Minato answered sarcastically.

"Just remember that your priority is protecting the caravan and its members, tadpole. I'll help you with that but it'd be better if you didn't let anyone past you."

Minato nodded as the henged toad moved back, leaving the blond jounin at the front so that he could move to attack as soon as they reached whatever trap the bandits were preparing.

"Is there a problem?"

Minato smiled at the dark haired man leading the convoy.

"Nothing to worry about Kateru-san, sensei and I are going to take care of everything."

"If you say so."

Why was everyone always so condescending with him? When sensei said the exact same thing everyone felt relieved and looked at the pervert in amazement, but hearing his apprentice just wasn't the same it seemed.

"Dear," the voice of the merchant's wife caught her husband's attention, "It looks like we have a problem, the road's blocked."

And indeed, there was a barricade made from fallen trees and boulders that prevented the passage. More importantly, however, were the poorly -to Minato- concealed thugs in the foliage at the sides of the road. He counted eight of them.

"Don't leave the cart and stay down."

"Wha-"

In a blur of speed the young jounin disappeared from sight. With his left hand he launched an handful of shuriken on the left while he himself ran on the right, a kunai held firmly in his right hand. He reached and slit the throat of one bandit before the others realized they were being attacked instead of attacking.

Minato ducked under a sword swing that would have chopped his head of, and spun on his right foot drawing another kunai with his left hand that was promptly buried in his would-be beheader's gut. He launched the blade in his right hand between the eyes of a thug who had his sword half-way out of the sheath. A fourth man didn't wait there, he turned and run away without a second glance.

With the right side of the road cleaned, Minato turned his attention to the remaining assailants. One was on the ground, two shuriken in the chest and a bad cut on his throat, he was either dead or would be in under a minute. Another was leaning on a tree glaring murderously at him, his left leg having been injured by one of his shuriken.

The final two bandits, however, were a step away from reaching the cart, and one already had his sword raised ready to strike.

"Raiton: Shuurai!"

Two bolts of lightning struck them, sending the two men back and to the ground, unconscious. The only thug left had paled at the sight of a jutsu, finally realizing he was up against a trained ninja, and had started limping away to save his life.

Minato waited a bit to make sure the danger had passed before relaxing.

"Well done." Fake Jiraiya praised in the general silence, "Can you clear the way now? We still need to pass."

The blond nodded and walked to the barricade just as their shocked charges found their voices.

"Wow."

Minato, his back to the convoy, smirked proudly at having impressed their clients. It wasn't that he was vain, but people tended to always admire his sensei and overlook him, so it felt good to be acknowledged.

"Well, it seems your student isn't that useless after all, Jiraiya-sama."

Stupid nosy red-haired brat, maybe he should put spiders in her futon when she slept tonight.

"Kushina, you really shouldn't be so rude with Namikaze-san, he just saved us all."

"Sorry Yasame-san."

The blond grinned cheekily to himself while standing in from of the barrier the bandits had risen to block their path. Extending his right hand in front of him he concentrated and focused his chakra, making it spin in multiple directions faster and faster, but controlling it so that it formed a sphere.

It took him about a minute before he was ready and used the chakra sphere to hit the barricade. It blew it up, cutting through the trees and boulders alike.

Gamashiro-Jiraiya came to stand beside him admiring the effects of his new jutsu and whistled appreciatively.

"Nice. So is this that 'something amazing' that the gallant said you're working on?"

Minato made a face at hearing his pervert sensei called 'gallant' but otherwise ignored it and answered.

"Yeah, it's pretty much done, but I need to practice it a bit more. It takes me too long to form it if I want to use it comfortably in a fight, and sometimes I still loose control of it too."

"It's still impressive, to create such a jutsu from nothing. Have you thought of a name?"

"No, not really..." The blond muttered.

"You'll come up with something." the disguised summon then turned to their clients, "Onwards people, we have some more road to cover before the end of the day."

-o-o-

Jiraiya didn't like what he had gathered so far, not one bit.

Many villages near the border of Earth Country were deserted. In the last one he'd spied two teams of Iwa-nin were helping the civilians evacuate, they were being moved northward, in the hinterland.

He had also been given information about the increase of ninja activities, as well as stockings of various resources, from food, to weapons, to other essentials, and many trade routes were being modified.

A couple of his contacts had also become untraceable, and that worried him especially since one of the first he had been trying to communicate with had died in the collapse of his home. The problem was that he knew for a fact that the building that fell down wasn't where the guy lived. And he overheard a drunk hinting that there was more going on about his death.

The signs pointed to one thing, but he'll have to find some solid evidence before going back, and maybe also something about Iwa's plans and first targets.

He had hoped to never see another war, but if these bastards wanted one so badly, than he'll do anything in his power to stop them before it went out of control and dragged other villages into it.


	4. Going Back

**CHAPTER 3 – Going Back**

Travelling on a cart was a new experience for Kushina, and she it fun and relaxing. After fleeing from Amegakure she had avoided populated areas and spent more or less a year like an hermit in the mountains.

Later on she had visited some villages on the border with Hi no Kuni and moved further north into Kusa, doing the occasional job to earn some money but never staying in the same place for more than a couple of weeks.

She had been looking for such a job when she arrived at Basue, but what she found was more or less a ghost town with the last villagers preparing to move out to Taki. She thought about it for a whole ten seconds before deciding that putting a country between her and Ame was the best thing she could do. Hell, she'd have gone to Kiri if she hadn't heard the Mizukage had genocidal tendencies.

When a strange dark haired kind woman approached her Kushina was defensive, but as it turned out that woman, Yasame, was really just concerned over the fact a young girl like her was travelling alone. And she was also kind-hearted enough to offer her a job so that she'd be able to travel with them.

"Ow!"

An inconvenience of being on a wagon, however, were the jumps it did every time there was a bump. Her ass was starting to seriously hurt.

_'Screw it, just one more and I'll fucking get off and walk on my own.'_

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just can't understand why no one's able to make a goddamn road flat, we might as well be going through the forest for all the stupid bumps we got."

Kaiza chuckled weakly at her. He really was a considerate sweet guy, he definitely took after his mother in that regard. On the other hand, though, he was a bit too zealous sometimes, she was sixteen, an adult, she didn't need a babysitter.

Hell, she was the trained fighter, even if she hadn't had a teacher in years, Kushina _was_ trained as a kunoichi from an early age. A front-line fighter ninja, to be exact. If they were attacked she was more likely to save his life than the other way around.

That was, of course, if their escorts didn't dispatch the threat as they had the previous time.

The young redhead had watched as Jiraiya stood back and left his student take care of those thugs, and had been impressed. Not by his winning, any ninja worth his name should have been able to obliterate third rate scum like them. What really made her re-evaluate her opinion on Namikaze was how fast he moved.

No, it wasn't that either.

It was weird, she couldn't put her finger on it, but his movements were precise, relaxed, as if he felt like he was going in slow motion. She had the distinct impression the blond could move faster than any jounin she had ever seen if he wanted to.

And then there was that jutsu he used to destroy the barricade. What was it? He had been with his back turned so Kushina couldn't be sure, but from the position of his arms she doubted he did any handseals. She thought she had seen something, like a glowing ball... of chakra?

Whatever it was it looked unlike anything she knew of.

So, it seemed the blond was up to being his master's student, after all. Who knows, maybe one day he'll become ever stronger than him, one of the Legendary Three. He already had him beaten in wooing women, that was for sure.

In fact, right now he was chatting quietly with a brunette, although the others who seemed so smitten with him earlier had retracted. Kushina guessed they were shocked by his performance, maybe fearful at how easily he could kill those men. Pathetic. He was a ninja, what did they expect?

If anything Kushina was surprised he didn't purchase those that fled to finish them off. Maybe there was something wrong with her after all, God knows she'd seen enough violence and death to be desensitised, as much as she hated that.

"We should arrive tonight." Kaiza tried to strike up a conversation.

"Yeah..." Sadly Kushina wasn't much of a people person and his attempt fell on deaf ears.

An awkward silence descended between them. Then a wheel hit yet another stone, shaking the wagon and making Kushina almost fall flat on her face.

"Stupid damn road, how fucking hard could it be to level it, retarded road-makers can't do anything right." She kept on grumbling to herself as she jumped down the cart and started to walk alongside it.

Jiraiya, or rather the toad summon passing himself for him, sighed resignedly. It seemed he won't receive any interesting inspiration from these two to pass to his summoner. Maybe the blond tadpole would be better in that regard, though.

Minato was in fact having a nice time talking with Rei, a brunette with a good head on her shoulders and warm grey eyes. It hurt a bit to see the other girls suddenly looking at him like he would attack them at a moment's notice, but it was nice to be given some space.

Rei, unlike the others, had known from the start what to expect in case they were attacked. From what she told him, his brother was a samurai, and she had seen what ninja did during a chuunin exam he had brought her to see when she had visited him and his family.

The blond jounin himself didn't have problems with killing, sure he didn't enjoy it, but it was necessary and a part of his job. He killed to prevent others being killed, it was how the world worked, even if one day he'd like for it all to change. It was a dream he had inherited from his mentor, and although he still didn't know how such a thing may be possible he still liked to think it would happen.

The present, however, was as far from that dream as it could be.

"So, Rei, didn't your brother leave his village?"

"No, I told him to, but he's too stubborn." she answered with veiled sadness, "He told me he became a samurai to protect his village, and won't leave it even if it kills him. Besides his wife's is eight month pregnant and can't travel anyway."

Minato hummed to let her know he was listening.

"He actually lives further north, and his last letters weren't comforting. Grass-nin have intensified controls and they all look nervous, as if they expect an attack. They also started refusing a lot of missions, that's why we had to hire from Konoha.

"We don't know what is going on, but tension has continued to rise for a while now, and if it's true we're coming close to a new time of open hostilities then staying in Kusa is folly. The only place worse than this would be Ame."

"Yeah, Rain is always between a rock and an hard place..." Minato answered, but he was thinking about what he just heard.

He hoped Jiraiya was fine, but he feared that when this mission would end and he met his sensei again he'd have to hear something he really didn't want to.

Minato had accepted killing was part of his profession, but war had a way to make everything worse, to bring every action to its extremes and give you a _front_-_seat_ view of your worst nightmares.

-o-o-

_'Damn it, damn it, damn it all! Fucking backstabbing bastards.'_

Jiraiya was scanning through the copies of some documents he had done earlier. Getting his hands on them had been tricky, he couldn't afford being found out and if anyone spotted him the game would be over. He already had to kill one jounin and make it look like a drunken brawl, any more deaths and the Iwa scum would become suspicious.

_'I told him, Orochimaru and I told sensei Iwagakure was acting weird, but he just had to trust them because of our treaty. Where's that damn non-aggression agreement, now? If only he had let me investigate sooner we wouldn't have come to this.'_

The Toad sannin had first thought to yell and rant at his sensei, the third Hokage, as soon as he came back. Now he felt more like punching the old crone in the face. If he moved when he first caught wind of something odd going on in Earth Country they they wouldn't be outnumbered three to one.

The estimates on the papers he was reading were awfully precise about how many active ninja Konoha had, and Iwa had literally build an army capable of overpowering them with sheer numbers.

Jiraiya rolled the papers and tied them tightly in a scroll which he pocketed. He would have handed it to one of his toad for safe keeping, but he couldn't summon one without attracting attention. Looking furtively around, the white haired man moved through the shadows till he made it to the outskirts of the village the Stone-nin had occupied after evacuating all the civilians who lived there.

He waited until the jounin he was observing walked away, leaving only two chuunin on guard duty. Thankfully the two were obviously inexperienced as they were paying attention only at the door and windows of the building. They were also relaxed, clearly not expecting anyone to have passed the border without alerting the patrols.

_'I hope this is a sign that their numbers affected the quality of their ninja.'_

The sannin managed to infiltrate through the roof, which were unusually low guarded. It was truly interesting to observe how Stone-nin gave so little thought to something any Leaf-nin would guard closer than the front door. On the other hand, no Konoha-nin would pay so much attention to the underground routes that could be used to enter a building.

_'Now, to find the messages coming from the Hidden Stone Village.'_

That was another downside from having waited so long. If Sarutobi sensei had let him do his move a month ago, when he had asked, he could have gone directly into the shinobi village. Now getting there was beyond even him, especially with the timetable he had been given.

Moving stealthily along the corridors, Jiraiya finally reached the room he was looking for. As he thought, it was empty in that time of the day. He estimated that he had some time as the place wasn't heavily guarded.

He went through the drawers looking for the last letters, half of his mind occupied on checking if anyone passed the chakra sensors he placed at the beginning and at the end of the corridor outside. Finally he found what he was looking for and like he did for the other documents went to make copies.

Spreading the letters on the desk, Jiraiya unrolled a scroll and covered them with it. He paused to make sure no one was too close to his position, then cautiously released the littlest quantity of chakra he could while still making the copying scroll works.

As soon as that was done the sannin paused again holding his breath and straining his senses. No activity nearby, he had gone unnoticed. He exhaled a sigh of relief and hurried in rolling up his scroll and pocket it, then carefully put the letters and everything else he touched back where they were before he came.

Although everything had gone well so far a frown marred the white haired Leaf-nin. He hadn't read the letters, just copying them, but from the few words he glimpsed it seemed Iwa wasn't alone in preparing for war, and whomever it was they were allying themselves with they were ready to attack Konoha and Fire Country.

_'Shit, why is it that all news are bad news? Sigh, I better hurry up and get out of here. I hope Minato didn't have any unforeseen problems.'_

His hand had just touched the doorknob when he felt someone walking down the corridor, just toward the room he was in. Turning hastily away from the door he went for the window and was about to go out from there when he noticed a seal on it. If he opened the window he'd have all the shinobi in this village on him.

An Iwa jounin entered the room and went to retrieve some papers from the filing cabinet on the left wall. He hummed lightly to himself as he went through the drawers taking out three folders, then closed the drawers and walked out of the room locking the door behind him. The seconds ticked away as the sound of his steps down the corridor became weaker and weaker till they faded completely into silence.

Jiraiya emerged from behind a bookcase, coming out of the space between it and the wall, where no human should fit. He wasn't a legendary ninja just for his good looks after all.

_'Gallant Jiraiya one, nameless backstabbing Iwa scum zero. The great sage of Mount Myōboku did it again, oh yeah. Sarutobi-sensei better let me peep in peace once I get back.'_

He then proceeded to pick the lock of the door, re-close it behind him, and slip out of the building at the village like a shadow, with none being the wiser.

-o-o-

"Hey look, look, mom! We're here!"

Minato smiled warmly at the excited children that were jumping and shouting. The sun was almost down, but they had managed to arrive to their destination before it got too dark to travel, just as they had planned.

He chuckled thinking about his old teammate, Mikoto, who probably had her hands full right now. Minato himself liked children, especially when they were past the age in which they'd throw up on him but still too young to be all rebellious and ready to go against anything said to them.

The thought of children made him remember about the request he submitted the previous month about becoming a jounin sensei. He really hoped that once they came back from this mission the Hokage would give him his own squad to lead. It was something the blond had wanted to do for some time now and he felt confident in his abilities to both teach and guide them.

_'At least, I hope I can. If a war is coming, then it may be much harder than I thought.'_

Loosing a teammate was already hard, how much worse would it be to loose a subordinate? A student? A child whose parents you'll have to tell you weren't fast enough, strong enough to protect? He was beginning to understand why Jiraiya used to go crazy over every time Mikoto Reimaru and Minato himself decided to try something out a new jutsu on their own or go scouting without him.

A sudden slap to the back of his head shook him out of his increasingly glooming thoughts.

"Liven up Namikaze, we're arrived and your mission is done. You look like someone died with that sour expression. It's depressing." Kushina scolded him.

"You don't look that happy either Uzumaki, although you do seem more cheerful whenever you can insult someone. Or when you hit me." Minato replied.

"I'm not hitting you, I'm trying to hurt you." The redhead confessed candidly. Minato couldn't decide if she was joking or not. "And stop looking down on me." She added.

"I cannot help it if you're that much shorter than me."

Kushina looked at him for a second before rolling her eyes. "You're a pathetically lame person to banter with, Namikaze."

The fact that the critic came from a girl two years his junior made it even worse. He was just grateful Jiraiya-sensei wasn't there to hear it.

"I'm sorry." He wasn't sure why he felt it his duty to apologize.

Even more confusing was when his younger companion turned to stare at him. Minato was starting to feel unnerved under her gaze when she finally shook her head.

"No, you're not." she sentenced, "But it's all right, I guess ninja stuff is taking up all your brain capacity."

Why did this girl have to insult him every occasion she got? Admittedly it wasn't ill spirited as it had been on the first day, but it was still somewhat annoying. Minato chalked it up to her just being an immature little girl, even if he himself wasn't convinced about this conclusion.

"Well, I better go pack up my things."

"Huh? Why?" The blond jounin asked. That was something he was thinking to do since he had to get back to his own village after rejoining with his real sensei, but she had just arrived to her destination, hadn't she?

Kushina spared a glance at him before shrugging.

"I'm not stopping here. I've joined them because Yasame insisted so much, but I want to keep going."

Minato noticed a far away look in her eyes as the young Uzumaki seemed to fall deep in thought. He had the distinct impression that she was trying to flee from something, maybe a painful memory. It'd explain why she had nightmares.

"Well, just be careful, ok? It can be dangerous on the road."

His comment, made out of genuine concern, had the effect to raise the girl's ire once again judging by the murderous glare she levelled at him.

"I am not a defenceless little child Namikaze!" she spat venomously, "I had hoped to at least part on friendly terms, but if this is all you can do then forget it! You're just a pompous snobbous ass!"

Minato watched with his mouth hanging open as the redhead stormed off. He couldn't understand how she could switch moods so fast so often in the span of a minute. Granted, he knew that the girl was somewhat self-conscious about her age, but she just flew right off the handle at the slightest comment, even when he his words had nothing to do with it.

And she did that only with him! Jiraiya -and Gamashiro after his summoner's place- could say the exact same things as Minato without Kushina trying to bite off their head.

Although he had to admit it was somewhat fun to see her doing just that, Minato had noticed that she started to say nonsenses when she got angry. It was cute in a way.

_'I wonder what she'd think of Fugaku if she thinks I'm snobbous. Snobbous... is that even a word? Probably not.'_

"Uhm... Minato?"

The Leaf jounin turned to see Rei smiling shyly at him.

"The sun's already down, and... Well, I wanted to know if... If you'll wait till tomorrow morning before leaving?" She stammered as her cheeks colored.

Minato smiled at the nervous girl and nodded.

-o-o-

"So you're really leaving?"

Kushina looked up from her crouched position over her backpack to meet Kaiza's eyes.

"Yeah." She answered turning back to check if she had everything, "I want to get to the other side of the country, and then I think I'll go further North till I get on the coast."

"I see." He said sadly.

Finally satisfied and sure that she had packed everything, Kushina stood up slipping her backpack onto her shoulders and turned to face Kaiza properly.

"Don't make that face, now. I swear you guys are always looking at everything as if it's a tragedy!" she tried to get him out of his dark mood. When she saw it wasn't working, the redhead sighed and gave him a smaller and more honest smile. "Thank you Kaiza, I already told your parents, you and your family have been very kind to me, but I need to go. It doesn't mean we won't see each other again, though."

This time her words seemed to reach him as he smiled back and nodded. Then, surprising her, Kaiza hugged her and whispered his goodbyes before turning and almost running away.

Kushina stared after him for a bit, confused at the sudden gesture, then shrugged it off and walked across the village to the exit at the opposite side of where they had entered it.

Saying her goodbyes to Kaiza and his parents had taken her mind off her anger at the idiotic blond jounin, but now that she had passed the village's gates and was alone once again she found herself thinking back about him.

Since their first bumping into each other -all Namikaze's fault- he had annoyed her. It was just that his behaviour, the way he talked to her, the way he simply existed grated on her nerves. She had seen the way he addressed the other girls of the caravan, always smiling and charming, but with her... he treated her like she was a child.

Kushina kicked a stone on her path with anger. She didn't understand why she was getting so upset over this. Sure, Namikaze was a good-looking guy, and that night when she had had a nightmare he showed to have a gentle side she wouldn't have suspected in a shinobi but...

_'Gah, what the hell am I thinking?'_

She kicked the stone again. Kushina stood still and watched it rolling down the dark path. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply to calm down. Once she had regained a cool head she tried to analyse the problem once again.

Honestly speaking she hadn't found Namikaze's personality that bad, he was actually quite charming, although her own character clashed horribly with his. And there was no denying that physically he was kind of handsome. All in all she liked the guy. There was nothing deep or serious whatsoever to it, and obviously, considering her situation and lifestyle, if he had expressed any kind of interest in her she would have rejected him. So why was she so annoyed at him?

Kushina stopped and looked down at herself. The moonlight allowed her to barely see her own body, which she observed with a critical eye. Maybe the problem was just that a guy she considered good-looking and that she liked couldn't even see her as a woman.

Now, that was a depressing thought.

_'Too bad for him! Damn bastard, who the hell does he think he is?'_ Kushina kept on stomping on her way down the road. _'At least I won't see ever again, I've got enough of his attitude to last for a lifetime. Stupid moron, as if three years are that much of a difference.'_

-o-o-

It was early morning and the sky was just beginning to clear up on the East anticipating the sunrise.

Minato exited the village and jumped on the tree branches, hopping from one to another. He had more than enough time to reach the _rendezvous point_ where he would rejoin his teacher, but he felt the need to stretch and nothing worked like a run on the trees.

Once he had left the village and any potential witness within, there was also no need to mask Jiraiya's absence anymore so Gamashiro had promptly dispelled itself. Minato had no doubt however that he'd see him soon enough, likely to complain with Jiraiya about how little action he had seen.

But for the moment he was alone and he was enjoying the quiet. It may be the last chance he had to do so for a long time.

Minato thought about his still unnamed original jutsu. He had had the chance to use it to clear the way after that bandit's attack, but it still took him too long to form it. He needed more practice if he wanted to be able to use it effectively on the battlefield.

Once he did that, however, he'd still have the problem of reach. His chakra ball -a tentative name he was sure Jiraiya-sensei won't approve of- was a short range attack and more suited for a one on one confrontation than anything else. If only he could get the Hiraishin to work the problem would cease to be, but the only time he managed to use it he threw up right before loosing consciousness. And he hadn't manage to do it again either.

_'So I have one unnamed jutsu with a glaring weakness, and a named jutsu that doesn't work. Maybe I should just forget this and go back to study old jutsu instead of creating new ones. If anything it wouldn't be so frustrating.'_

Minato kept his pace all morning, made only a brief break to eat lunch, and reached the agreed meeting point only a couple of hours after that. Since he was early he hid himself in one of the highest trees. While half his attention was on anyone approaching or passing through the area, he took out a notebook to study the design for the Hiraishin markers. He'd have practiced his chakra ball too, but he didn't want to risk being sensed him if he did.

The Hiraishin markers as a matter of fact were seals Minato had created modifying the core one of the summoning technique. In fact, one could say that the whole principle of the jutsu was to summon oneself. The major problem was that the summoning jutsu wasn't designed for human beings, and he had been warned multiple times by both his sensei and his sensei's teammate, Tsunade, that even if he succeeded a prolonged use of such a technique could have long terms negative effects on his body.

Minato, however, was determined to complete his jutsu, especially if a war was coming. Being able to summon himself from one place to the other on the battlefield with a mere thought could allow him to save hundreds of lives. Or end them.

The blond jounin felt a familiar chakra signature enter his range of perception and put away his notes.

He waited patiently for the figure of his sensei to appear and wasn't disappointed. He didn't ask him what he had found out since Jiraiya's expression was indicative enough to let the blond know that their worries were founded.

They made their way back to Konoha mostly in silence.


End file.
